


We Lie in th Black and White

by MiMyMomo



Series: Not By Blood Doesn't Mean Less Love [6]
Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:08:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22439293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiMyMomo/pseuds/MiMyMomo
Summary: Miko tries to cheer a worried Eurydice up and meets the king of the underworld in the process
Relationships: Eurydice/Orpheus (Hadestown)
Series: Not By Blood Doesn't Mean Less Love [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1540894
Kudos: 22





	We Lie in th Black and White

**Author's Note:**

> Re-uploaded from Tumblr

“Is Euri okay?”

The winter had been hard these past few evenings. The snow piled up and the temperatures and food rations went down. Miko had moved in with the loving couple just a couple months prior and things were for once going okay. 

Except not fully. 

Orpheus’ fingers froze in mid head pat. He was putting Miko to bed, kneeled down next to the child who was sat upwards in his cot, a worried expression evident on his face. The musician sighed, melancholic smile plastered on his lips, “she will be, Miko. I promise.”

… 

She had a system, a nightly routine she had to complete before her brain allowed her to relax and unwind. Miko watched as she made her way to the kitchen, in her hand a green notebook with a slightly bent cover. Opening up the cupboards, cabinets, and drawers, green notebook flipped open to the next blank page, she’d count their stock. 

He observed how she stacked cans high in the cabinets. Counting and re-stacking. Re-stacking and counting some more. She held on firmly to jars of pickled vegetables and preserved fruits, a gentleness to her touch. They were fragile, valuable glass filled with, in her mind, multicolored gems. She wiped the pads of her fingertips across the polished, handwritten labels. She read them once, twice, three times before putting them back in their place. She’d frantically scribble down numbers and begin the process again, moving on to the next item in her vision. 

Once finished with the kitchen, she’d walk with hasty steps to their living room, that in reality, was more a glorified dining room. She’d pull blankets up from old squeaky chairs, folding them over and over, only pausing in short burst to run her hands over the fabric and ponder. Silent in her thoughts. Miko never knew what she was thinking about in those moments, but he also didn’t want to ask. 

He studied the way she rearranged the logs of firewood- rotating them to the left, the right, lying then vertically against the dirty brick fireplace, before letting them crash to the ground in disarray. Kicking them back against the wall and leaving them be. Gazing at the dwindling fire, orange glow illuminating her bronze cheeks, she’d quietly tiptoe over to Miko’s cot. Closing his eyes, he listened as she retucked his blanket over his body up just below his chin, and kissed his temple. Ruffling his hair - Miko always imagined a small, tender smile would be on her lips- she’d softly whisper goodnight. With that and one final kiss, it was back to her and Orphy’s room, finally ready to close her eyes for the night. 

Every night was the same thing- count, stack, fold, kick, kiss, goodnight. Miko had it memorized by heart. He wondered if Orphy had known of Euri’s special habit, but he had a strong suspicion he did. Miko knew from quiet whispers that Euri came from a bad background, filled with trouble and grief. He could see it in her eyes, in the way she thought and carried herself- she was like him. 

Miko hated seeing her like that. The woman that saved him, fed him, fought for him, loved him- so scared and stressed to the point of paranoia over the impending thought of being without food or warmth. It broke his heart. 

He wanted to help her. 

He tried once before, asking her in the dead of night with only the sound of the crackling fire and creaking floorboards if there was something he could do. “Need help Euri? I can count to seventeen. And write tally marks.”

“No, no Miko,” she brushed him off with a wave of her hand. “I can handle this. I’m sorry if I woke you.” Miko watched as her eyes glazed over and her smile became more forced and heavy. Caught like a child with their hands in the cookie jar, her nervous compulsion now out in the open. A distant look full of shame and uneasiness battled with her calm exterior. Miko never asked to her face to help again. 

But he couldn’t leave her. He had to help, needed to. 

So he started small, subtly. He took less and less food at dinner time, walked into the forest while Euri and Orphy were both at work or sleeping and picked up small sticks and broken tree limbs then dragged them back inside their home. He scavenged for food around the town, looking high and low and everywhere in between. Some people took pity on him, thinking he was alone, graciously gifting him spare inklings of fruits, pieces of bread and meal scraps. They were the nice ones. Others chased him off, recognizing him from when he used to steal off their carts. Without fanfare or warning, he’d place his goods on the cupboard shelves and close them tight. And with a smile, he’d quietly listen to the scratch of Euri’s pen each night as she took count each night, the number growing without her knowledge to how.

He was proud of work, he was making his dues. Or so he thought. 

In the dead of winter, the temperatures dipped further and further. Noses dripped, tears spilled from bleary, wind slapped eyes and skin dried and cracked in the frigid weather. Dark gray clouds constantly covered the silver dyed sky, the night seemed to creep up earlier and earlier as the days went by. A blizzard was rumored to pay the upside a visit, which sent the town, and especially Eurydice and Orpheus, into a frenzy. 

“You think he’s fighting with the misses again?”

“I’m sure he and Lady Persephone are fine. If anything, it’s most likely a small disagreement. It’ll pass in no time.” 

They talked in the late hours of the night, not wanting to address their concerns in front of the young child in their possession. Miko listened with keen ears to the hushed whispers of the young couple who sat in the dining table chairs near the fireplace. His body was turned away, playing asleep once more, unable to see their faces. But he could perfectly hear their voices- urgency and fear pooling together with trace amounts of bleeding hope. 

“We won’t have enough firewood.”

“Have faith ‘Rydice, my love. We’ve made it through much worse. We’ll get through this storm together.”

“I’m trying, I just,” Miko heard a sigh, body tensing as he waited with bated breath. “I didn’t think I would be counting another person when I started prepping food and fire for the fall and winter. I’m scared we might not make it.” 

Miko tuned out the rest of the conversation, barely registering the press of warm chapped lips against his cheek and temple. In the endless hours of silence his brain replayed Euri’s words over and over in his brain, “counting for another person,” “I’m scared we might not make it.” “We won’t have enough.” 

Won’t have enough. They won’t have enough. And it was his fault. They would run out of supplies and it would be his fault. They would freeze or starve and it would be all his fault. All his fault. 

Hot tears streamed down the boy’s scarred cheeks. He pressed his hands firmly against his mouth so no sound spill could out into the air and alert the couple. He breathed and let his tears fall.

Pairs of footsteps, one more gentle and subdued from practice than the other, made their way back into their bedroom. As the door shut, Miko wordless made a vow to whatever god would be listening: He wouldn’t let his family suffer because of him. 

There had to be something he was able to do. Time ticked by, the midnight sky turned from a gray-blue to a light, indescribable hue. A stroke of genius struck the boy where he laid. 

Mutedly, Miko crawled out from under his sheets, the cold of the floor chilled his toes. He reached for his hoodie and pants, slipping them on as well as a thick pair of socks, and a matching set of wool mittens and a cap Euri and Orphy bought him at the market. He tiptoed across the room, careful to avoid the loudest boards on the ground. He grabbed his pair of sneakers that were next to the front door and pulled them over his feet. They were old and tarnished but for now, they would do. With a measured pull, he opened the door, a burst of chilly air briskly rushing in to whip against his face, and slipped outside. 

Instantly, the cold nipped at his skin. Stepping out and making his way down the covered path, Miko exhaled and watched as the puff of air visibly disappeared around him. 

As Miko walked down into the forest, he took in the sight around him. The world was covered in white, fat icicles dangled languidly from skinny branches on trees, their weight bending the branches in an unnatural curve. The dull crunch of packed snow crushed under his shoes, the sound ever-pleasing. It was a serene experience, just him and the sound of crunching snow, the distant caw of morning birds and the light shine of the sun behind the clouds, desperate to be seen even just the tiniest bit.

Miko reached the entrance to the forest in a matter of minutes. The snow was beginning to fall from the clouds again. Light and pretty in the morning glow. After a good chunk of time searching for an open clearing, he found an ample area next to a remote cliffside. In no time, being wary of the steep descent next to him, Miko began scrounging around for broken sticks buried under the piles of snow. He picked up a rhythm, brushing away snow with his hands and feet, tossing wet sticks, thick or thin, into a pile behind him. Miko didn’t know how much time had passed, his once meager pile now home to dozens of spare pieces of wood. 

The snow was really coming down now, a fat flurry of flakes landing in his hair and on his clothes, accumulating into inches on top of inches on the frozen ground. “Good enough,” Miko said to no one but himself. He started to gather his work into his hands. The wind began to pick up as the snow fell harder and harder, making it nearly impossible to walk or even see. With slow, cautious steps, he slid his feet through the snow. His toes and fingers numb and vibrating. 

He attempted to march forward but stumbled backward due to the onslaught of wind and icy snow that bit and howled at his face like a rabid dog. Unable to see, he aimlessly trudged around until he felt his foot slip from under him, the ground uneven and dipping. Losing his balance, Miko fell back and tumbling down the snowy hill. 

As he rolled, he felt the endless jabs of sticks and pointed rocks poke and cut his skin, air escaped his lungs. Snow and debris flew around him as he beat against the frozen ground. The sound of pained wails, snapping wood and slapping smacks against snowy hill filled the air, until he finally reached the bottom of the hill, slamming hard right into a tree. 

Miko couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. Everything hurt- his head throbbed, stomach groaned and legs felt like jelly. His clothes were soaked and torn and one of his shoes had been ripped off from the fall. 

He needed to get up…but he just couldn’t. 

The snow fell around him, it looked so pretty. Miko’s vision grew white as he stared up to the sky. The sky, the snow, everything was white. 

…

Hades didn’t know why he was out there. Well, that was a lie. He knew why he was up top- him wanting to spend more time with his wife. A sweet gesture of love, that quickly morphed into a bitter argument. Her storming off and him riding on the first train to the upside. 

It started off so innocently, so how did he end up here?

As he walked through the storm, passing through the forest trees, he stewed in his brain. The cold didn’t bother him, never did. It gave him a distraction from his burning heart and raging head. 

He pushed on through the path, stomping down the familiar trail. Then he saw him- a young boy sprawled out, partially covered in a light dusting of snow. His foot, shoeless and sticking out. He wasn’t moving. 

Hades examined the scene in front of him- the child lying at the base of the hill, broken sticks tossed about, shoe missing, small puddles of red that stood out against the white. He took note at the trail of body-shaped prints that went down the side of the hill and easily put two and two together. 

Hades stepped closer to the body, no bones appeared to be broken or missing. He was most likely dead by this point. Another soul for the ever-expanding underworld. He wouldn’t be much help in Hadestown. Hades frowned the pit in his stomach gnawing at the thought of the tiny child fending for himself alone in the sweltering crowds of the underground. 

Suddenly, the boy groaned, startling the god of the dead. “Eu-Euri? Or…phy…” _Euri? Orphy…_ He wasn’t expecting the near-frozen child to be awake and most definitely not coherent. What did he mean by Euri and Or…

_No. It couldn’t be._

With a deep sigh, Hades scooped the boy up into his arms, tucking his shivering body under his coat. His skin was as cold as ice, face bruised and forehead covered in semi-dried blood. Hades wiped at the bits of icy blood that dripped down the sides of the child’s face. “Mista Hermes?”

“No child, I’m not. Now quiet.” Hades turned and began his trek back into town, the wind slowing down in his speed. 

Miko couldn’t focus, everything still hazy. He had felt himself get picked up and knew that someone was carrying him somewhere. He threw a name out into the air, a complete shot in the dark. “Hades?” 

The man said nothing. The silence all the confirmation Miko needed. “I…dead?”

“Not yet,” the voice boomed, pushing a stray branch back with his one free hand. It’s quiet between them for another minute until Miko spoke up once more. 

“You okay?” Hades stumbled, feet slipping in the snow. _Stupid, insolent child_ , Hades thought to himself. Why was this boy asking him if he was okay? He was the one lying half-dead outside in the middle of a blizzard. As Hades gathered his bearings with a grunt, the boy began to speak again. “Euri and Orphy…scared you, fighting with…Per, sep…penny.”

“Hush child,” Hades softly commanded, “save your strength.” 

“‘Kay,” Miko weakly whispered, burrowing closer into the god’s chest and fitted suit. No more words were shared as the continued into the storm, footprints disappearing as quickly as the appeared. The outlines of their figures vanishing into the trees and white. 

…

“Where could he have gone?” 

“I don’t know! He was here sleeping when we went to bed!” 

Orpheus and Eurydice were pacing around the house, searching every square inch of the residence. Miko had vanished and the two were panicking. 

“Orpheus, there’s a blizzard going on! What if he’s out there? Lost. And alone,” Eurydice rambled on feverishly, hands frantically pulling at her wild hair. Her thoughts ran wild in wary circles, her doubts creeping in past her guard like an unwelcome house guest. The wind spoke nasty whispers in the dark corners of her mind. 

**_You lost your boy to the storm._ **   
**_He’s dead and gone._ **   
**_Nothing’s left for you to do but mourn._ **

Orpheus could sense his wife’s downward spiral, “stay calm ‘Rydice-”

“I can’t stay calm! Our kid is missing and he may be out in a snowstorm all alone and I just,” Eurydice fell to her knees, not caring about the bruises her heavy fall most definitely caused. “I don’t know what to do.” She was at a loss. They both were. 

“I’ve been out in a storm like that before,” she added quietly her eyes glued to the floor, not fully talking to Orpheus. “I never want anyone to left out there like that. Especially not him.”

The air between the two froze over, and it wasn’t because of the storm going on outside. They never talked and Hadestown- the trip down, their time there, the way back, or even the storm that caused it all. Despite it being years ago, it still felt too fresh to touch, pulsing and bruised.   
Orpheus joined his wife on the ground, pulling her into a snug hug, her head falling into the crook of his neck. Fresh, salty tears burning his exposed skin. “We’ll find him. I swear we will.” 

They sit there close together, tears flowing from their eyes. Both restless but neither moving away. 

“I’ll go get Mister Hermes,” Orpheus broke out into the quiet, “he’ll probably know what to do. You can look around the area of the house.”

“No, I’ll go get Hermes,” Eurydice said, pulling back from her husband’s embrace. “I’m faster and I can search in some areas he could be at.” 

Orpheus nodded, okay with the change of plans. The two got up and hastily put some clothes on. Eurydice rushed out the door in the direction of the bar while Orpheus was still pulling his thick pants over his legs. As he struggled to get his boots on and laced, a harsh knock was heard at the door. It was way too soon to be his wife and Hermes. _Miko!_

Orpheus forgot about the boots and rushed to the door. He swung the door open, nearly pulling it off his hinges, “Miko!” 

Orpheus froze. There at his door, was someone he’d thought he’d never see again while still alive and breathing. The king of the underworld himself, “Mister Hades.”

Orpheus was too busy with his eyes locked to the king’s face, that he failed to notice the shoeless foot that protruded from the bottom of his overcoat. “Boy.” 

“Wh-why? Why are you,” Orpheus sputtered, unable to form a complete sentence in his shock. 

Hades didn’t signify his stuttering with a response, instead choosing to pull back the coat to reveal the shivering child. 

“Oh gods, Miko!” Orpheus reached out to nab the boy from the god’s hands. The boy was shaking like a leaf, clothes sopping wet and ripped in some areas, bleeding cuts and bruises lined his face, legs, and arms. And one of his shoes was completely missing. The poet rushed further inside to start a fire, wrapping the child in a spare blanket. As his fingers fiddled with the matchbox, Orpheus tried to figure out what to do next. He needed to find the first aid kit, and then get the boy a change of clothes. Maybe he should draw a warm bath? Or start prepping some soup and tea? Or maybe-

“Boy.” Orpheus jumped, mind still reeling. “Finish starting the fire, then draw a bath to warm his body temperature up. I’ll grab a medicine kit.”

Orpheus nodded, awkwardly picking up in speed as his brain slowly comprehended what was being instructed to him. “R-right. Okay.”

The two didn’t move. Hades grew impatient, “the kit boy. Where is it?”

“O-oh! It’s right below the sink in the bathroom. Just over there,” Orpheus pointed down the unlit hall in the direction of the sole bathroom in the house, finally getting his hands to cooperate and a match to ignite. 

Hades walked into the tiny washroom and looked under the sink, dried chips of painted wood peeling off the sides. Just as Orpheus said, there was a white box with a large red cross printed on the cover, the words FIRST AID KIT in big bold letters right underneath. When Hades arrived back into the living room, the fire was burning away in the pit, the temperature in the house already rising. 

“I’m gonna draw Miko a bath,” Orpheus scrambled, hands holding a pair of cotton shorts, a ratty tee that was most definitely too large for the shivering child still half-asleep near the fireplace. “Will you clean him up a bit? I left a towel on the table.” Before Hades could respond, Orpheus was already gone, leaving him alone with the medical supplies and the quiet boy. If it weren’t for the small twitches and occasional sniffles and sneezes, Hades would’ve thought he was a statue. 

The sound of rushing water from the nearby bathroom snapped the god out of his thoughts. With lackadaisical yet gentle movements, he worked on the child, wiping away smeared streaks of blood and dirt from his face, hands and any other exposed area. Digging in the box, Hades found what he was looking for: a see-through bottle of clear rubbing alcohol. He lightly pressed a cloth dosed in the clear liquid to the tender blistering wounds, causing the boy to jump and wince at the stinging feeling that bubbled in his open cuts. 

“Owwie…” Miko squirmed, desperately attempting to inch away from the god and the burning contents of the bottle in his hands. 

Hades cocked an eyebrow, an unamused frown dancing on his lips, “you wish for your injuries to become infected?” Miko shrunk into his seat, shaking his head. His eyes glued to the orange embers that popped in the hearth. “Then sit still,” Hades answered sternly, focusing back at his task at hand, “the pain will subside soon.” 

The continue on in silence. No words needed to be said. Just the sound of the occasional quiet winces, the popping of the fire burning away and the distant sound of water running into their old, tiny tub. Suddenly, as Hades was finishing up with cleaning up the boy’s cuts, a large crash of the front door being slammed open rang out into the home. The sound of furious footsteps approaching brought Miko and Hades’ eyes over to the direction of the entryway. 

They heard her voice before the saw her body, “Orpheus! I told Hermes and he said he’d be right over, he’d just have to shut the bar down first.” The young woman of the house, covered in a dusting of powdery-white snow, rushed into the living area, her face frightened and erratic. She whipped her head around the room.

Instead of being greeted by the familiar frame of her husband, she was met with a sight that shocked her eyes: Hades and Miko. The latter, covered in puffy cuts and bruised skin, being treated by the god who was fiddling with a first aid kit. 

“Miko…” Eurydice said slowly as if he was merely a mirage that would disappear if she spoke too quickly. 

“Euri,” he said softly, eyes and body desperate to be closer to the woman. 

She gasped, cupping her hands over her quivering mouth. While relief flooded her bones, there was a tenseness she just couldn’t ease. She’d never thought she’d be this close the god of the dead again. Not ever since the Hadestown experience. Yet, here he was, in her and her family’s home crouched down in her front of her adopted son. “Miko!” She cried rushing over the boy in a frenzy.

“His injuries are mostly treated at this point- nothing too extensive, just cuts and a few bad bruises. Maybe even a concussion, but I highly doubt that. 

Eurydice scooped the child up from his seat and held him in her arms. She pulled him close to her chest, twisted her body so her side not holding Miko was facing Hades, trying to keep Miko as far away from the god as possible. “Don’t touch him!”

“Eu-euri?” Miko whispered concerned, voice raspy and coarse as if he’d gargled a bucket of nails. His head laid against the base of her neck, coughing harshly into her chilled skin. 

Eurydice gently pats the boy’s back in an unintentional one-two rhythm. She locked eyes with the god standing near the fireplace, “why are you here?” her voice stiff and sharp as steel. Hades paid no mind to the edge in her voice or the suffocating tension plaguing the air, instead, continuing his efforts to pack up the medical supplies back into the first aid bag. Shifting a bottle, pushing back a box of bandages, removing pearl-colored tape and putting it back in. As the seconds ticked by, Eurydice burned hotter and hotter. Her anger and frustration melting in a scalding pool ready to boil over at any time. “Hades-”

“Your Poet is running him a bath,” the god pointed over to the hall where the musician had disappeared down, minutes ago. “Don’t know what’s holding him up so long.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Eurydice huffed, her patience a thin line of wire, itty bitty strands pulling and snapping one by one. “Why are you here, in our home? Why is my child hurt?”

“If you would stop acting like an impudent **child** and let me **explain my reasoning** maybe you would get your answer,” Hades growled lowly, eyes and face squinting and scrunching at the young woman’s tone. 

“I won’t let you take him,” Eurydice said fiercely. It burned, everything burned- her words, the heat, the ever-growing tension, her uneasy nerves. “I won’t you take Miko down there.”

“Is that what you think is happening?” Hades asked gruffly, his voice rising, echoing off the walls. He stepped closer causing Eurydice to step back. They continue their dance; every inch forward led to another two back. “You think I came here to collect him and ship him out to the mines?”

“Don’t act so surprised, that’s what you do, isn’t it?” Eurydice countered back just as forceful. Her brown irises, fiery hot and staring right into the god’s. “You promise them the things they crave, and since they’re desperate and naive, we fall for it.” Eurydice’s chest rose and fell at an accelerated pace, eyes wild and dazed- a wounded animal looking for a clearing to charge through. She didn’t realize she started to include her in her phrasing.

“I wake up and find my kid gone in the middle of a winter blizzard and come back to see you here and him half dead! So, I’m sorry if I’m jumping to conclusions.”

Just then, Orpheus came stumbling back into the living area, “alright, the bathwater is read…Eurydice?” He pushed forward, barely noticing the heavy tenseness permeating the space. “What’s going on?”

“Why is he in our house?” Eurydice pressed, turning her body fully away from the suited man. Confusion and desperation dripping from every word as she marched closer to her husband’s side.

“Boy, tell your girl that she’s got everything wrong,” Hades commanded, passing the medical kit roughly into Orpheus’ hands. He brushed down the crumpled wrinkles in his suit and fixed his tie, standing straight and imposing. He was a God after all.

“Mister Hades found Miko ‘Rydice,” the poet said softly, hazel pools meeting his wife’s blazing brown. He reached out with his one open hand and placed it on Eurydice’s shoulder, the fabric soaked from the wet snow. “He brought him home.” 

Eurydice felt as she had been struck in the back by a pipe. Her body feeling hot yet cold all at once. “Is, is that…true?”

“It’s true…” The three adults jumped at the extra voice and glanced down at the child Eurydice tucked to her chest. His teal eyes cloudy, struggling to stay open and alert. “I saw you,” he spoke up again. “In the kitchen every night. And the fireplace, counting wood. You look so sad,” he trailed off. Streams of tears fell from his shimmering sockets, “you and Orphy were scared we’d run out. Sad and scared. My fault..had to find more and then…”

Miko coughed, body jerking from the hacks. He closed his eyes, “I sorry, Euri. I wanna make you happy again. I so sorry.” Miko felt hot drops of water fall on his skin. He peeled open his eyes once more to see Eurydice struggling to hold back her sobs. Her face scrunched, bottom lip bloody red and caught in between her teeth. “Euri?”

“I’m sorry.” Miko was at a loss. “I’m so sorry, Miko. This wasn’t your fault, I-” She wrapped the boy even tighter in her arms as if he would evaporate into thin air if she lessened her grip. She wouldn’t let the tears fall. “I’m so sorry.” 

“I found him buried under a coat of falling snow at the bottom of a remote cliff. There were splotches of blood and tree limbs scattered all around, must’ve fallen from the top,” Hades cut in, crossing his arms in unamused disdain. “I thought he was dead.”

Eurydice’s shoulders sagged, from relief, her boy wouldn’t be taken from her. From guilt and sadness that she’d jumped so quickly to a rash and horrid conclusion. Her heart struggled to slow, each labored breathe seemingly getting stuck in her throat. Her brain fought tooth and nail to process everything that was happening, every word being spoken, every action occurring around her. Hades, Miko, he…he brought Miko home? She raised her head to address the god she had just minutes ago called out for attempting to steal her child away, “I, I’m-” 

Miko let out a small sneeze, his nose a bright red bulb, beads of sweat beating down his forehead. “Get him to the bath,” Hades nodded at the shivering boy cradled in Eurydice’s arms. “The earlier you try and break that fever, the better.”

“But-”

Hades raised his hand, silencing the woman’s attempt at a rebuttal, “all’s forgiven and forgotten, Songbird.”

Eurydice opened her mouth once more, words like little spiders tingled on her tongue, desperately aching to crawl out. But nothing escaped. So, she silently nodded and walked away, taking a few steps but stopping before disappearing behind the corner into the dark. “I’m sorry, for what I said,” she said softly, genuine. “Thank you, for what you did. And for bringing him home.” Then they were gone, the sound of the bathroom door opening then snapping shut filling the two men’s ears. 

Snow fell outside the window, gentle and light. The clouds parting and rays of bright beaming light came down, reflecting off the white snowbanks. “Storms broke,” Hades said out loud, not directly addressing the poet standing a few feet away from him. “I’ll be taking my leave.”

“O-oh, okay,” Orpheus sputtered, setting the first aid kit he was still carrying, down on the old wooden table. 

Hades, with perfect strides, marched over to the family’s front door. With a twist and pull, he yanked open the door, a stream of light blaring into the house, climbing the walls and silhouetting both of their bodies. “Boy.”

“Yes, Mister Hades, sir?” 

“I better not find any more loved ones of yours out in any more storms. Next time, I won’t be as gracious,” He peered over to Orpheus, face stiff and eyes hard, “do I make myself clear?”

Orpheus lowered his head and nodded, “yes.” 

“Okay.” Hades took four steps out the door, boots leaving a perfect trail of prints in the ground. He paused, back still facing the young man’s, “soup with lots of garlic.”

Orpheus raised his head, tilting it slightly, “what?”

“It’ll help with the cold.” Without any further explanation, he took off into the wave of white, all that’s left of his being is his trail of prints. 

…

“Well brother, you’re looking good. Redecorate the office area since I’ve last been here?”

“What can I help you with, Hermes?” the god of the underworld sighed, not looking up from his stacks of unfinished paperwork. 

The office space was wide and virtually empty of any personal, sentimental items. Dark, embellished curtains were drawn over the titanic window in the middle of the left wall, the view of what was left of the expansive mines and factory tucked away. Every object on his matching bookshelves and paper on his desk was neatly stacked and pristinely placed. The ‘redecorating’ Hermes mentioned was the replacement of the portrait that hung above the desk. The painted portrait of Hades, that once loomed over the office with a hefty, intense stare, had been switched. The King was no longer alone. A new painting, Hades and Persephone, side by side with no space in between, hung in its place instead. The green of her dress and the colorful flowers weaved into her hair added a nice hint of light to the room.

Hermes chuckled and closed the office door. “No time for small talk, I see.”

“I have important business to attend to.”

Hermes shrugged, “I’ll only be here a moment. Just have an important message to deliver you, then I’ll be on my way.”

Hades put down his pen and raised an eyebrow, “what is it?”

“From someone on the upside who made me promise to give this to you as soon as possible.” In his midst, Hermes held an envelope. He passed it over to Hades waiting hand- it was off-white in color and partially crinkled in some areas. There was no evident address or stamp to be found, no clue for the god to piece together the mysterious sender. Hades squinted but the messenger god just winked and headed to the door. “Well, I’ll be taking my leave. Got business myself I need to take care of back up top.” With a flash, he was gone leaving Hades to his lonesome.

With a careful slide of his letter opener, he tore into the envelope’s flesh and pull out its sole contents: a folded piece of paper. 

Pulling back each fold, Hades glanced down at the paper- a drawing. More specifically, a drawing of him, holding the Poet and Songbird’s boy in his arms. The backdrop of falling snow surrounded them. At the bottom of the paper in what could graciously be called handwriting or less nicely chicken scratch was a short message: _**Thank U Mista Hades! Miko!**_ punctuated with a small red heart. Some letters backward and barely legible. 

It was a crude thing, obviously done by a child’s hand. Scribbles outside of lines, unrealistic color choices and proportions, he was smiling in it for gods sake! 

“Mr. Hades, sir,” a hesitant soul wandered into his office, poking their head through the minuscule crack. “Your wife is calling for you.”

“Give me one moment, I must attend to something important first.”

The worker nodded and backed out the door, shutting it as they went. Hades turned back to the drawing that laid stagnant on his desk. He pulled open a drawer and scrounge around searching for a certain item. _There!_ He pulled out a roll of tape and ripped off a long piece. Then two. Done.

He stepped back from his handy work and silently marveled. There, on the wall, a messy picture of the God of the underworld holding a small child in the falling snow, a cheeky grin painted on his face. Hades’ mouth morphed into an uncharacteristic smile, tiny but still present. He spun on his heels and walked out the door, turning the lights off as he went. The faces of him, his wife and the small child he’d slowly come to appreciate, watching over him as he shut the door. 

**Author's Note:**

> Follow: @miko-and-companyau for future updates  
> Main Tumblr: @mimymomo


End file.
